To the untrained eye, the graceful lilies that arrive on church altars each year
on Easter Sunday (April 4 this year) are a familiar symbol of resurrection and
renewal. Like poinsettias on Christmas, it just wouldn’t be Easter without them.
But for the people who get them there – on a date that shifts from year to year
– getting the trumpet-shaped flowers to bloom on cue takes months of just-right
gardening, mathematical deduction and extreme diligence.
“It is by far the most complicated, single thing that happens in the
floricultural industry,” said William B. Miller, professor of horticulture at
Cornell University.
“Valentine’s Day – same day every year. Christmas Day – same day every year. No
problem. … It’s extremely complicated and Easter lily growers really do have
to keep very close track of this stuff. They have to very much manage their
crop.”
Photo Caption: Harry Harms, vice president of Hastings Bulb Growers Inc. shows
off rows of Easter lilies at his greenhouse in Simith River, Calif., March 15,
2003. The region’s cool climate and rocky alluvial soil is the perfect
confluence for the lilium longiflorum, known to Sunday-hat-wearing grandmother’s
throughout North America as the Easter lily.
Photo Credit: Ron Harris | AP
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